Southern Storm

by Terri Blackstock

  “Why not?” Jonathan asked. “We have them in hospitals, convenience stores, banks, grocery stores. A lot of towns have them at red lights. They work in cutting down crime.”

  “Jonathan, we understand your concern for your foster daughter,” Doug said. “But just because Sadie got drunk Saturday night don’t mean the whole island should be videotaped twenty-four–seven.”

  Jonathan grabbed the microphone and shot Doug a killer look. “The City Council is not supposed to be a breeding ground for gossip, Doug, and if you want to make one more comment about Sadie, you and I can step outside—”

  “All right!” Art hammered the gavel. “Thank you, Jonathan.” It was meant to dismiss him, but he kept standing there.

  “I guess we will go ahead and vote. We seem to have our minds made up.”

  “You can’t do that.” Jonathan’s angry voice cut across the room.

  The council members looked up at him. “Why not?” Sarah asked.

  “Because Cade isn’t here. As police chief of this town, he should have the right to make his case.”

  “He gave up his rights when he skipped town,” Doug piped in. “He should have thought about them beach cams before he run off.”

  “He didn’t run off!” Jonathan bit the words out. “That letter was clearly written under coercion. Anyone who knows Cade knows that he would never rush off and get married like that. He would have put a lot of thought and prayer into getting married, and he would have wanted his fiancée to know his friends. He wouldn’t have hidden her.”

  “We’d expect you to think that,” Sarah said. “Being his best friend and all. But most everybody believes that Cade is off on his honeymoon, and any day now he’ll be back with his new wife. But his whims shouldn’t control this body. So if you’ll sit down, Jonathan, we’re going to go ahead and vote.”

  Jonathan sat down, gritting his teeth, as every one of the members voted no. He hoped Cade would appreciate his feeble effort to defend the cause. He knew Cade probably had specific crime statistics, stories of crimes that could have been avoided with greater security on the beaches, other towns’ success rates.

  “Next up,” Art said, “is that we have to name an interim police chief in Cade’s absence.”

  “I say we name a permanent chief,” Sarah said. “We don’t need somebody as irresponsible as that boy running the police force on Cape Refuge.”

  “Well,” Art said, “I think we can deal with that at some point in the future, but for right now, do I hear a motion that we appoint Joe to run things? He’s the second-in-command and is already filling in. We’d just be making it official.”

  “So moved,” Doug said.

  “Second,” Sarah added.

  “Any discussion?”

  Jonathan got up again. “I have something to say, Art.”

  Art sighed. “What is it now, Jonathan?”

  “First of all, I’d like to point out that Cade hasn’t even been gone more than a few days, and if I’m not mistaken, he did have some personal leave that he’d accrued. Except for a couple of days here and there when we’ve gone diving down in the Keys, Cade hasn’t had a real vacation since he took the job. So there’s no reason to get all in an uproar over his absence.”

  “Thank you for your comment,” Art said with clear condescension. “Sit down, Jonathan.”

  His face burned. “No, I’m not finished. I wanted to point out that without a mayor you don’t really have the right to make any decisions regarding the chief of police. When the new mayor is elected, he will decide who the chief is going to be. So unless you want a real fight, I suggest that you give Cade a chance to be found before you go naming interim chiefs!”

  Dismissing him again, Art looked at the other members. “On whether or not to appoint Joe as interim chief, all in favor?”

  Everyone on the council said “aye,” and none was opposed.

  Jonathan sank back down. These people couldn’t be reasoned with.

  “Next on the agenda,” Sarah said. “Sue Ellen Jargis has a complaint about the library.”

  Jonathan rolled his eyes and watched as Sue Ellen headed for the microphone. Dressed in some kind of designer garb, she seemed to wear every piece in her jewelry box draped around her neck or wrist, or jangling from her ears.

  She cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of the city council,” she said in a saccharine voice. “I feel it is my duty to let you know that our town’s library is being neglected and mismanaged. I went in there last Friday in the middle of the day, looking for some Italian tapes. My husband and I are going there next month—to Italy, I mean. More specifically, to Rome, Milan, and Vienna.”

  Jonathan smirked. “Uh, Sue Ellen, Vienna’s in Austria, not Italy.”

  She could have murdered him with her look. “Of course it is. I meant to say Venice. I certainly know the difference between Venice and Vienna.” She softened her tone and turned back to the microphone. “Anyway, as I was saying, I went looking for tapes, and Blair Owens practically threw me out the door, telling me she was closing early, even though the sign on the door said that her hours are nine to six. I came back the next day and the next, and both times the library was closed.”

  “Give me a break!” Jonathan said, coming to his feet again. “Sue Ellen, you know darn well that Blair is preoccupied with Cade’s disappearance. Everyone on this island ought to be!”

  The woman wouldn’t be daunted. “Furthermore,” she said, talking over him. “Gray Foster, a college student who uses the library a lot, told me she’s left him there alone while she traipses off to who-knows-where.

  “Now I think that if the city of Cape Refuge is paying Blair Owens to run the library, she should be expected to keep it open at regular hours. I think that woman needs to be fired for neglect and rude treatment of its patrons.”

  Jonathan had lost his temper at city council meetings before, but until now, he’d never wanted to hurt anyone. “Blair has never given anyone a reason to question her handling of the library before! Not once!”

  Art sat back in his expensive chair and crossed one hairy leg over the other. “Very interesting. We appreciate your bringing this to our attention, Sue Ellen. And Jonathan, we appreciate your defense of your sister-in-law. We’ll take this matter under advisement.”

  Jonathan sank back down. “Whatever that means.”

  When the meeting was over, he stalked back out to his truck and sat behind the wheel as the council members came out. Sarah Williford threw one flip-flopped foot over her Harley and cranked it up, letting the deafening roar of the motor pollute the peace of the town. Morris got into his Jaguar and pulled out. Doug and Art had ridden together in Doug’s pickup. They laughed about stopping by Cricket’s for a beer before going home.

  Oh, how the town needed a decent mayor, he thought. And so far the mayoral candidates were nothing but more of the same. Nothing would change if either of them got elected.

  But if Jonathan were elected . . .

  He started dreaming about the changes he would make, the commonsense approach he would use to matters that came up on the city council’s agenda. Maybe he could set a new tone, absent the greed and lack of compassion characteristic of these people now.

  As he started his truck and headed back to Hanover House, Jonathan made up his mind. He might not win, but he was going to give it a good run for his money.

  He only wished the town had a newspaper so he could get the word out.

  CHAPTER 47

  Morgan tried again to call Blair after Jonathan came home from the city council meeting, but there was still no answer.

  When her voice mail answered again, Morgan tried to keep her voice level.

  “Blair, where are you? By now you must have heard about Karen’s baby being kidnapped, and you haven’t called. I’m starting to think that you’ve vanished too. Come on, Blair, help me out here. I need to hear from you.”

  When she hadn’t yet heard from Blair by midnight, she and Jonathan drove t
o her house. Her car was not out front.

  “Okay, that’s a good sign,” Jonathan said. “When Cade disappeared he left his truck. If Blair took her car, then chances are nothing’s happened to her.”

  Morgan wasn’t convinced. “I still want to go in.”

  They used Morgan’s key to unlock the door and cautiously stepped inside.

  The living room was dark, a breeding place for shadows. The pale yellow walls did little to brighten the place. Morgan turned on the light and looked around. The room had always looked much more feminine than anyone would have expected of Blair. Morgan and her mother had helped her decorate a couple of years ago, but the choices had been Blair’s.

  She looked around and saw that some of the sofa cushions were on the floor, as if Blair might have lain down on the couch.

  She pictured her sister sitting up late, terrors about Cade at war in her mind.

  Jonathan passed her and went into the kitchen. “It’s a mess in here,” he said. “If she’s been home she’s been in a hurry.”

  Morgan stepped into the kitchen and saw a few dishes and cereal boxes sitting out on the counter. Blair had never been the most domestic one in the family, but she did at least do her dishes.

  Jonathan left her there and went into the bedroom. “Bed’s not made.”

  Morgan walked back through the living room to Blair’s bedroom. She had slept here herself a number of times, mostly after her parents died, when Jonathan was wrongly imprisoned. Even in her grief, Blair had kept it relatively neat, but tonight a week’s worth of clothes hung over a chair and several pairs of discarded socks lay on the floor.

  “Okay, here we go.” Jonathan picked up her alarm clock and pushed the “wake” button. “She must have been home at some point today, because it was set to go off at 2:00 P.M. Looks like it went off and was reset for tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. If she hadn’t turned it off, it would still be buzzing. Now it’s set for 2:00 P.M. tomorrow.”

  Morgan took the clock. “What is she doing?”

  Jonathan shook his head. “You don’t think she’s been staking out the Clark house all night, do you?”

  Morgan looked at him. “I’d be willing to bet that’s exactly what she’s doing.”

  “Well, at least there’s no sign that she’s in trouble.” He glanced at the Bible that lay on her pillow. “Look at that. Blair has a Bible?”

  Morgan picked it up. “It’s Pop’s. I gave it to her. She was interested in the cities of refuge.”

  Jonathan nodded. “Because of what Cade’s Bible was open to. Well, looks like she’s been reading it. Maybe it’ll do her some good.”

  Morgan set the Bible back down and looked around for anymore clues.

  “Let’s go home,” Jonathan said. “Leave her a note telling her we’ve been here, and threaten her life if she doesn’t call you the minute she comes in.”

  Morgan left her a scathing note, then wearily, they locked the door and went back to the pickup. As they drove home, she wished she’d found something more conclusive. She wanted to talk to Blair, needed to hear her voice.

  Silently she prayed that she hadn’t met the same fate as Cade and the baby.

  CHAPTER 48

  Morgan lay awake for most of the night and got up with Caleb at six in the morning. When the phone rang at eight, she ran to the parlor, where Agent Tavist sat with his recording equipment. He gave the signal, and she picked it up.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s me.” Blair’s voice was hoarse with fatigue.

  Relief washed like warm honey through Morgan’s body. She motioned to the agent that it was okay. No kidnapper.

  “Blair, where have you been?”

  “Looking for Cade.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “Morgan, what’s this about the baby?”

  Morgan sighed and glanced at the agent. He was still taping. “He was kidnapped right out of her arms in the hospital, Blair. Don’t you listen to the news?”

  “Kidnapped? How?”

  “A woman impersonating a nurse told Karen the doctor was on the floor and needed to see the baby.”

  Silence hung between them for a moment. “What is going on?” Blair said finally. “Morgan, I’m so sorry I haven’t called. How is Karen?”

  “As well as can be expected.” She wanted to tell her about the FBI agent and the recording equipment, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

  “Morgan, are you all right?”

  Morgan breathed a laugh. “You know me.”

  She could tell Blair was crying now. “The two of us are a real pair,” Blair said. Silence again, then, “If only Cade were here. I’ll bet he could find that baby.”

  Morgan rubbed her eyes. “Blair, Jonathan went to the City Council meeting last night, and there was a complaint about you.”

  “What kind of complaint?”

  “Sue Ellen Jargis complained that you’ve been closing the library. You’re going to lose your job if you don’t watch it.”

  “Don’t worry about it. There’s nobody else on this island qualified to run it.” She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  “Okay,” Morgan said. “Go get some sleep.”

  Blair didn’t move to hang up. “Morgan?”

  “Yeah?”

  Another pause, then, “Do you think that Cade ran off and got married?”

  Morgan tried to focus her thoughts. “No, Blair. I don’t think that.”

  “Good,” she whispered. “I don’t either.”

  Morgan wasn’t sure if she heard doubt in Blair’s voice. “Blair, please don’t kill yourself trying to rescue Cade. I’m worried about you getting into trouble yourself. Getting hurt, maybe killed. If you’re right and Ann Clark had something to do with his disappearance, she could be a very dangerous woman.”

  “I hear you,” Blair said.

  “And you need to eat. Why don’t you come over here for supper?”

  “Can’t.”

  Morgan frowned. “You’re going to go back to Savannah again?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Morgan. You do what you have to do to find the baby, and I’ll do what I have to do to find Cade.”

  Morgan didn’t like the way that sounded. Tears stung her eyes, and she twisted her face and tried to control her voice. “Be careful, Blair.”

  “I will.”

  When Morgan hung up, she stared down at the phone and wept into her hand. “Lord, help us.”

  “Amen.” She looked up and saw Karen standing in the doorway, her eyes swollen and her arms crossed over her fleshy stomach.

  Morgan went to her and pulled her into her arms, and Karen fell apart again. “I handed my baby over to a maniac,” she whispered. “I let her walk away with him.”

  Morgan didn’t know how to assuage that guilt, so she just clung to her as they both wept out their grief.

  CHAPTER 49

  The phone woke Blair up, and she pulled herself out of the fog of her sleep and squinted at the clock. Twelve o’clock . . . midnight? No, noon.

  She grabbed the phone up. “Hello?”

  “Blair, this is Sarah Williford.”

  Blair fell back onto her pillow. What did the city councilwoman want?

  “I can’t believe I finally got you on the phone. Where in the world have you been? I’ve left messages—”

  “What is it, Sarah? Cut to the chase.”

  Sarah paused, as if making note of Blair’s abruptness. “We’ve had some complaints about you keeping the library closed, Blair.”

  Blair thought of hanging up the phone, but decided that wouldn’t be prudent. She sat up in bed, clutching the phone to her ear. It was time to get up anyway. She’d slept for four hours, and that was enough. She had to get back to the Clark house. “Yeah? And?”

  “And I wondered if you intend to open the library today?”

  “Wasn’t planning on it, Sarah.”

  Sarah gave an i
ndignant grunt. “And may I ask why?”

  Blair stiffened. “Sarah, how many times have I done this in the years since I’ve been running it?”

  “Well, I don’t know, Blair, but you’ve done it a lot lately. What am I supposed to tell people who are complaining? We pay you to work there so that people can have access to it. If you’re not going to do that, then we’re going to have to make other arrangements.”

  Blair got up then. “You can’t fire me, Sarah. You don’t have the authority. The mayor has to fire me, and last I looked, we don’t have one.”

  “Think again, Blair. The City Council has the authority to make decisions about the running of this town during the mayor’s absence. And I should tell you that we do have an alternative. The Cape Refuge Ladies’ Auxiliary has expressed interest in taking on the library as one of their projects. They could run it on shifts, if it comes to that.”

  Blair thought of ripping the cord out of the wall and flinging the phone across the room. “The Ladies’ Auxiliary? So you think they could do a better job?”

  “They would keep it open during its regular hours! I don’t see what else they’d have to do. The place practically runs itself.”

  Now Blair was fully awake, and nuclear rage shot through her head. “You know what, Sarah? I think you should do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Let the Ladies’ Auxiliary run it. Because I quit.”

  Sarah’s silence screamed over the line. “Blair, I do suggest that you think this over.”

  “No,” Blair said in a dramatic voice. “Far be it from me to stand in your way when you have a better option. Let the Ladies’ Auxiliary run it. I’m sure they’ll do a bang-up job.”

  “Blair, is this about Cade?”

  Now Blair was speechless. “What?”

  “Is this all about Cade? Jonathan said that you were distracted trying to find him. I don’t know why you can’t accept, like everyone else, that he’s married and on his honeymoon. You’re going to feel foolish when he comes back with his new bride, and you’ve up and quit your job so that you can spend your time obsessing over him.”

  Trembling now, Blair clutched the phone to her ear and leaned over, as if looking into the woman’s face. “And you’re going to feel foolish when he’s found dead, and we learn that his life could have been saved if someone had done something!”